According to a new study, Asian American patients are more likely to die from subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) or brain aneurysm than other ethnic groups.
These finding were published in the Journal of Neurosurgery by Dr. Loch Macdonald, a neurosurgeon and researcher at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.
“We believe there could be fundamentally important differences between the biological responses of different ethnic groups to diseases like SAH, rather than any difference due to their medical treatment,” Dr. Macdonald said.
Subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs when there is bleeding in the subarachnoid space that surrounds the brain. It can increase pressure in the skull, damage or kill brain cells and deprive the brain of oxygen. There are about 40,000 cases of SAH a year and more than 70 percent of people who suffer from SAH die within 30 days or are permanently disabled.
Of all ethnic groups studied, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were most likely to die from SAH during hospitalization. Dr. Macdonald said these findings could be due to the incidence of more severe cases of SAH or less access to high-quality hospitals.
For more information about the study’s findings about SAH and its effect on other ethnic groups, go to News Fix.
